Religion Blog

A London theater is refusing to host the UK Jewish Film Festival because it receives partial
funding from the Israeli Embassy.

The Tricycle Theatre has hosted the film festival for the past eight years.

But the theater’s artistic director, Indhu Rubasingham, issued a statement on Tuesday saying
that the theater’s board decided not to host the festival because they found it inappropriate to
accept the money due to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza. The theater offered alternative
funding, which UKJFF turned down.

Judy Ironside, founder and executive director of the UKJFF, said the theater had “chosen a
boycott over meaningful engagement to the detriment of this celebration of Jewish culture, which is
intrinsically connected to the state of Israel.”